PERLMODINSTALL
NAME DESCRIPTION PORTABILITY HEY AUTHOR COPYRIGHT
perlmodinstall - Installing CPAN Modules
You can think of a module as the fundamental unit of
reusable Perl code; See perlmod for details. Whenever anyone
creates a chunk of Perl code that they think will be useful
to the world, they register as a Perl developer at
http://www.perl.com/CPAN/modules/04pause.html so that they
can then upload their code to CPAN .
CPAN is the Comprehensive Perl Archive
Network and can be accessed at http://www.perl.com/CPAN/, or
searched via http://cpan.perl.com/ and
http://theory.uwinnipeg.ca/mod_perl/cpan-search.pl
.
This documentation is for people who want to download CPAN modules and install them on their own computer.
PREAMBLE
You have a file ending in .tar.gz (or, less often, .zip). You know there's a tasty module inside. You must now take four steps:
DECOMPRESS the file
UNPACK the file into a directory
BUILD the module (sometimes unnecessary)
INSTALL the module.
Here's how to perform each step for each operating system. This is not a substitute for reading the README and INSTALL files that might have come with your module!
Also note that these instructions are tailored for installing the module into your system's repository of Perl modules. But you can install modules into any directory you wish. For instance, where I say perl Makefile.PL, you can substitute perl Makefile.PL PREFIX=/my/perl_directory to install the modules into /my/perl_directory. Then you can use the modules from your Perl programs with use lib
or
sometimes just use .
If you're on Unix,
You can use Andreas Koenig's CPAN module
(which comes standard with Perl, or can itself be downloaded
from http://www.perl.com/CPAN/modules/by-module/CPAN) to
automate the following steps, from DECOMPRESS
through INSTALL .
A. DECOMPRESS
Decompress the file with gzip -d yourmodule.tar.gz
You can get gzip from
ftp://prep.ai.mit.edu/pub/gnu.
Or, you can combine this step with the next to save disk
B. UNPACK
Unpack the result with tar -xof yourmodule.tar
C. BUILD
perl Makefile.PL
make make test D. INSTALL
make install
Make sure you have appropriate permissions to install the module in your Perl 5 library directory. Often, you'll need to be root.
Perl maintains a record of all module installations. To look
perldoc perllocal
That's all you need to do on Unix systems with dynamic linking. Most Unix systems have dynamic linking--if yours doesn't, or if for another reason you have a statically-linked perl, and the module requires compilation, you'll need to build a new Perl binary that includes the module. Again, you'll probably need to be root.
If you're running Windows 95 or NT with the !ActiveState? port of Perl
A. DECOMPRESS
You can use the shareware Winzip program ( http://www.winzip.com ) to decompress and unpack modules.
B. UNPACK
If you used !WinZip?, this was already done for you.
C. BUILD
Does the module require compilation (i.e. does it have files that end in .xs, .c, .h, .y, .cc, .cxx, or .C)? If it does, you're on your own. You can try compiling it yourself if you have a C compiler. If you're successful, consider uploading the resulting binary to CPAN for others to use. If it doesn't, go to INSTALL .
D. INSTALL
Copy the module into your Perl's lib directory. That'll be one of the directories you see when you type
perl -e 'print
If you're running Windows 95 or NT with the core Windows distribution of Perl,
A. DECOMPRESS
When you download the module, make sure it ends in either .tar.gz or .zip. Windows browsers sometimes download .tar.gz files as _tar.tar, because early versions of Windows prohibited more than one dot in a filename.
You can use the shareware !WinZip? program (
http://www.winzip.com ) to decompress and unpack
modules.
Or, you can use !InfoZip?'s unzip utility (
http://www.cdrom.com/pub/infozip/ ) to uncompress
.zip files; type unzip yourmodule.zip in
your shell.
Or, if you have a working tar and gzip, you can type
gzip -cd yourmodule.tar.gz tar xvf -
in the shell to decompress yourmodule.tar.gz. This will UNPACK your module as well.
B. UNPACK
The methods in DECOMPRESS will have done this for you.
C. BUILD
perl Makefile.PL
dmake dmake test Depending on your perl configuration, dmake might not be available. You might have to substitute whatever perl -V:make says. (Usually, that will be nmake or make.)
D. INSTALL
dmake install
If you're using a Macintosh,
A. DECOMPRESS
First thing you should do is make sure you have the latest
cpan-mac distribution (
http://www.cpan.org/authors/id/CNANDOR/ ), which has
utilities for doing all of the steps. Read the cpan-mac
directions carefully and install it. If you choose not to
use cpan-mac for some reason, there are alternatives listed
here.
After installing cpan-mac, drop the module archive on the untarzipme droplet, which will decompress and unpack for you.
Or, you can either use the shareware !StuffIt?
Expander program ( http://www.aladdinsys.com/expander/ )
in combination with !DropStuff? with Expander Enhancer
( http://www.aladdinsys.com/dropstuff/ ) or the freeware
!MacGzip? program (
http://persephone.cps.unizar.es/general/gente/spd/gzip/gzip.html
).
B. UNPACK
If you're using untarzipme or !StuffIt?, the archive should be
extracted now. Or, you can use the freeware
suntar or Tar (
http://hyperarchive.lcs.mit.edu/!HyperArchive/Archive/cmp/
).
C. BUILD
Check the contents of the distribution. Read the module's documentation, looking for reasons why you might have trouble using it with !MacPerl?. Look for .xs and .c files, which normally denote that the distribution must be compiled, and you cannot install it ``out of the box. (See `` PORTABILITY .)
If a module does not work on !MacPerl? but should, or needs to
be compiled, see if the module exists already as a port on
the !MacPerl? Module Porters site (http://pudge.net/mmp/). For
more information on doing XS with !MacPerl?
yourself, see Arved Sandstrom's XS tutorial
(http://macperl.com/depts/Tutorials/), and then consider
uploading your binary to the CPAN and
registering it on the MMP site.
D. INSTALL
If you are using cpan-mac, just drop the folder on the installme droplet, and use the module.
Or, if you aren't using cpan-mac, do some manual labor.
Make sure the newlines for the modules are in Mac format, not Unix format. If they are not then you might have decompressed them incorrectly. Check your decompression and unpacking utilities settings to make sure they are translating text files properly.
As a last resort, you can use the perl
on the source files.
Then move the files (probably just the .pm files, though there may be some additional ones, too; check the module documentation) to their final destination: This will most likely be in $ENV{MACPERL}site_lib: (i.e., HD:!MacPerl? folder:site_lib:). You can add new paths to the default @INC in the Preferences menu item in the !MacPerl? application ($ENV{MACPERL}site_lib: is added automagically). Create whatever directory structures are required (i.e., for Some::Module, create $ENV{MACPERL}site_lib:Some: and put Module.pm in that directory).
Then run the following script (or something like
use !AutoSplit?; my $dir =
If you're on the DJGPP port of DOS ,
A. DECOMPRESS
djtarx ( ftp://ftp.simtel.net/pub/simtelnet/gnu/djgpp/v2/ ) will both uncompress and unpack.
B. UNPACK
See above.
C. BUILD
perl Makefile.PL
make make test You will need the packages mentioned in README .dos in the Perl distribution.
D. INSTALL
You will need the packages mentioned in README .dos in the Perl distribution.
If you're on OS/2 ,
Get the EMX development suite and gzip/tar,
from either Hobbes ( http://hobbes.nmsu.edu ) or Leo (
http://www.leo.org ), and then follow the instructions for
Unix.
If you're on VMS ,
When downloading from CPAN , save your file with a .tgz extension instead of .tar.gz. All other periods in the filename should be replaced with underscores. For example, Your-Module-1.33.tar.gz should be downloaded as Your-Module-1_33.tgz.
A. DECOMPRESS
Type
gzip -d Your-Module.tgz
or, for zipped modules, type
unzip Your-Module.zip
Executables for gzip, zip, and VMStar ( Alphas: http://www.openvms.digital.com/freeware/000TOOLS/ALPHA/ and Vaxen: http://www.openvms.digital.com/freeware/000TOOLS/VAX/ ).
gzip and tar are also available at
ftp://ftp.digital.com/pub/VMS.
Note that GNU 's gzip/gunzip is not the same as Info-ZIP's zip/unzip package. The former is a simple compression tool; the latter permits creation of multi-file archives.
B. UNPACK
C. BUILD
Make sure you have MMS (from Digital) or the
freeware MMK ( available from !MadGoat? at
http://www.madgoat.com ). Then type this to create the
mms test Substitute mmk for mms above if you're using MMK .
D. INSTALL
Type
mms install
Substitute mmk for mms above if you're using MMK .
If you're on MVS ,
Introduce the .tar.gz file into an HFS as binary; don't translate from ASCII to EBCDIC .
A. DECOMPRESS
Decompress the file with C You can get gzip from
http://www.s390.ibm.com/products/oe/bpxqp1.html.
B. UNPACK
Unpack the result with
pax -o to=IBM-1047,from=ISO8859-1 -r
The BUILD and INSTALL steps are identical to those for Unix. Some modules generate Makefiles that work better with GNU make, which is available from http://www.mks.com/s390/gnu/index.htm.
Note that not all modules will work with on all platforms. See perlport for more information on portability issues. Read the documentation to see if the module will work on your system. There are basically three categories of modules that will not work ``out of the box'' with all platforms (with some possibility of overlap):
Those that should, but don't. These need to be fixed; consider contacting the author and possibly writing a patch.
Those that need to be compiled, where the target platform doesn't have compilers readily available. (These modules contain .xs or .c files, usually.) You might be able to find existing binaries on the CPAN or elsewhere, or you might want to try getting compilers and building it yourself, and then release the binary for other poor souls to use.
Those that are targeted at a specific platform. (Such as the Win32:: modules.) If the module is targeted specifically at a platform other than yours, you're out of luck, most likely.
Check the CPAN Testers if a module should work with your platform but it doesn't behave as you'd expect, or you aren't sure whether or not a module will work under your platform. If the module you want isn't listed there, you can test it yourself and let CPAN Testers know, you can join CPAN Testers, or you can request it be tested.
If you have any suggested changes for this page, let me know. Please don't send me mail asking for help on how to install your modules. There are too many modules, and too few Orwants, for me to be able to answer or even acknowledge all your questions. Contact the module author instead, or post to comp.lang.perl.modules, or ask someone familiar with Perl on your operating system.
Jon Orwant
orwant@tpj.com
The Perl Journal, http://tpj.com
with invaluable help from Brandon Allbery, Charles Bailey, Graham Barr, Dominic Dunlop, Jarkko Hietaniemi, Ben Holzman, Tom Horsley, Nick Ing-Simmons, Tuomas J. Lukka, Laszlo Molnar, Chris Nandor, Alan Olsen, Peter Prymmer, Gurusamy Sarathy, Christoph Spalinger, Dan Sugalski, Larry Virden, and Ilya Zakharevich.
First version July 22, 1998
Last Modified August 22, 2000
Copyright (C) 1998, 2000 Jon Orwant. All Rights Reserved.
Permission is granted to make and distribute verbatim copies of this documentation provided the copyright notice and this permission notice are preserved on all copies.
Permission is granted to copy and distribute modified versions of this documentation under the conditions for verbatim copying, provided also that they are marked clearly as modified versions, that the authors' names and title are unchanged (though subtitles and additional authors' names may be added), and that the entire resulting derived work is distributed under the terms of a permission notice identical to this one.
Permission is granted to copy and distribute translations of this documentation into another language, under the above conditions for modified versions.
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